Charges against a fifth Marine over a firefight with insurgents in Haditha, Iraq, in November 2005 have been dropped, leaving counts pending now against only three of the eight originally accused by military authorities after U.S. Rep. Jack Murtha, D-Pa., launched a verbal assault on the U.S. military forces.
Charges already had been reduced against Lance Cpl. Stephen Tatum from murder to involuntary manslaughter, reckless endangerment and aggravated assault.
But the military announced today, just before his court martial was scheduled to begin, that even those charges had been dismissed “in order to continue to pursue the truth-seeking process into the Haditha incident,” according to a statement from Camp Pendleton, near San Diego.
Four Marines originally were accused of murder and four officers accused of covering up the incident.
The military statement did not make clear whether Tatum agreed to testify in return, or whether charges could be re-filed in the future, according to Agence France-Presse.
The Marines engaged in a house-to-house firefight with insurgents in Haditha Nov. 19, 2005. The insurgents fired on the Marines while hiding among women and children in homes in the Iraqi town.
The firefight resulted in the deaths of 15 civilians, “a result the insurgents wanted to happen,” according to officials with the Thomas More Law Center, a national public interest law firm representing the top officer involved, Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani.
Even though details of the battle and the civilian deaths were reported throughout the chain of Marine command at the time, all officers, including top generals, determined it was a tragic and unfortunate consequence of urban warfare and the Marines were justified in their actions to defend themselves.
The charges weren’t filed until after Murtha publicly described the Marines as shooting civilians in “cold blood.”
Chessani is accused of “dereliction of duty” and “orders” violations for the Haditha incident. At the time, Chessani was commander of the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, one of the most decorated battalions in the nation’s history.
There also were 14 Marine casualties, one Marine killed in action and 13 others injured when insurgents attacked from occupied homes.
But even before the investigation was complete, Murtha “made the rounds on TV news programs claiming there was no firefight in Haditha Nov. 19, 2005, and that the Marines killed innocent Iraqi civilians in ‘cold blood’ and officers ‘covered it up,'” said officials with the Thomas More Law Center. “Murtha publicly stated he received his information from the highest levels of the Marine Command – this statement in itself is enough to cause a dismissal of the charges because of undue command influence.”
Murtha’s comments, and the resulting investigation, followed an “inflammatory Time Magazine article written by reporter Tim McGirk – later proven to be false – calling the deaths of the civilians a massacre,” the law firm said. It said the information had been planted by a “known al-Qaida propaganda operative.”
Charges against Capts. Randy Stone and Lucas McConnell earlier were dismissed, as were counts against Sgt. Sanick P. Dela Cruz and Lance Cpl. Justin Sharratt.
Remaining cases include counts against Cpl. Andrew Grayson and Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich as well as Chessani.
As WND reported, the firm defending Chessani has alleged the entire case is a political vendetta.
The organization reported former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld set up a “shadow body” to oversee the investigation into Marines.
“The hysteria and media firestorm over Abu Ghraib and the Pat Tillman investigations led to fear of a similar media reaction to the Haditha incident, causing the military’s civilian bosses to set up this shadow oversight body,” said Richard Thompson, president and chief counsel of the Thomas More Law Center.
“This extraordinary action politicized the military justice system and was a clear signal to top generals that they were expected to hold individuals criminally responsible. The investigation turned into a quest for a prosecution – not justice,” Thompson said.
The law firm said its confirmation of this “shadow body” may well be “the most damning evidence of the political motivations and influence over the ongoing prosecutions.”
“These prosecutions will become a scandal of historic proportions unless terminated by independently minded and virtuous military judges,” Thompson said.
A motion raising the issue of “Undue Command Influence” already had been filed on behalf of the defendants, and the Law Center now will file its own motion on behalf of Chessani.
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